Cards score four in eighth to sink Pirates

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The final weekend of this season is a
stark contrast from last year for the St. Louis Cardinals. But
just like they did at the end of last season, the Cardinals are
ending play on a good note.

The defending World Series champions busted open a tight game
with a four-run eighth inning on Friday night, defeating the
National League Central Division cellar dwelling Pittsburgh
Pirates, 6-1, at PNC Park.

It was the Cardinals' fifth win in their past seven games and
their third road win in a different park in three days. On
Wednesday, they won in Milwaukee and on Thursday, they defeated
the Mets in a makeup game in New York.

"I'm trying to have fun these past couple days and make sure
these guys have a good time," said veteran Cardinals outfielder
Jim Edmonds. "I don't know why we're winning, but we're
winning."

An Edmonds pinch hit single keyed the Cardinals' offensive
attack against a wild Pirates bullpen in the eighth inning of a
1-1 game.

Pirates reliever John Grabow (3-2) walked two and hit a batter
to load the bases with one out. Grabow then walked So Taguchi,
scoring David Eckstein to give the Cardinals the lead.

With Franquelis Osoria on the mound two batters later, Jim
Edmonds hit a soft fly ball to right field that Steve Pearce
couldn't come up with, which brought home three to put the
Cardinals ahead, 5-1.

"It was luck," Edmonds said. "I hit the ball off the end of the
bat, and the guy broke back. I'm just trying to put the ball in
play; I'm not really trying to do anything special. I'll do
whatever I can right now."

For the Pirates, it was the 11th loss in their past 13 tries,
assuring them last place in the division.

The matchup between the Cardinals' Todd Wellemeyer and Pirates'
Zach Duke certainly didn't appear to be a pitchers' duel on
paper, but that is exactly what it turned out to be.

Wellemeyer, a career journeyman who had never started a game
prior to this season, pitched six innings, giving up just one
run on three hits while striking out five. The righthander has
made the most of his starts recently, and looked sharp against
Pirates.

"I was definitely wanting to finish strong," Wellemeyer said.
"It's a good way to end the season. I'm glad I got to go farther
than five innings, and I'm glad we won the game."

Making just his third appearance - and second start - since
missing over two months because of an elbow ailment, Duke was
effective as well, holding the Cardinals to one run and eight
hits over seven solid innings.

Having struggled since an impressive rookie campaign in 2005
when he went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA, Duke's outing provided hope
for next season.

"I think Zach Duke was out there tonight feeling a lot of what
he felt in 2005," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "And what a
good sendoff that is going into his offseason and the
opportunity to come into spring training and realize the fact
that he is every bit that guy that was here."